OBJECTIVETo establish a canine model of severe smoke inhalation injury on unilateral lung, in order to observe the pathomorphological changes in the injured lung within 24 postburn hours (PBHs).

METHODSTwenty five mongrel dogs were employed in the study and randomized into 3 groups. The left lung was injured by inhaling smoke produced by burning sawdust with sparing the right lung with a breathing tube in 10 dogs in group A. A conventional model of smoke inhalation injury to bilateral lungs was reproduced in 8 dogs in group B, and dogs in group C not subjected to smoke inhalation served as controls. Hemodynamic changes, blood gas analysis and the pathophysiologic changes in the lungs were observed within 24 PBHs.

RESULTSAll of the dogs in groups A and C survived. Hemodynamic indices in the dogs in groups A and C remained stable without showing signs of systemic hypoxia. The arterial oxygen partial pressure in dogs of group A was 65 +/- 5 mm Hg, and the oxygen saturation in the mixed blood was 0.64 +/- 0.04 at 24 PBHs, and they were much lower than those in group C but higher than those in group B. The pathological changes in the injured side of the lungs in group A were similar to those in group B with high consistency, and the changes, though milder, could also be identified in the contralateral uninjured lung. Five dogs died in the group B within 24 hours after smoke inhalation and the survivors showed signs of multiple organ failure.

CONCLUSIONThe canine model of acute severe unilateral pulmonary smoke inhalation injury was reproduced reliably, and could be an ideal model for the study on smoke inhalation injury.